Insulator supporting bracket



Jan. 7,194]. I SIEGEL 2,227,677

INSULATOR SUPPORTING BRACKET Filed April 15, 1938 I L. I 2

INVENTOR ATT NEY Patented Jan. 7, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1Claim.

This invention pertains to supporting means, and more particularly tothe type of support which is used in conjunction with neon gas tubes,which support is particularly adapted for holding and spacing the neontube in fixed relation to the mounting or base member.

Neon tubes which are used for signs require supports for holding thetubular members of said signs in a fixed relation in regard to the base.In forming the sign it is frequently necessary to have the tubularmembers thereof at various distances from the base. To enable anoperator to properly set up the sign it is necessary to have a meanswhich is readily adjustable for use in the conjunction with Varying thedistances of the tube from the base.

The prior art discloses that supports of the type mentioned herein havemeans thereon to permit shortening of said supports by breaking off aportion thereof. The support of the type to which this inventionpertains, requires a bracket which is secured to the base member. Thereare many types of brackets for holding the supports, but the greatdifficulty which is encountered is that the bracket does not fit snuglyagainst the support which holds the neon tube. This frequently resultsin vibrating the sign due to street traffic and other sources, whichcauses the support to readily become loose in the bracket. When severalof these supports are loose in their respective brackets the result isthat the sign becomes very insecure and that continued vibration over aperiod of time will cause the sign to require frequent servicing.

The above hazards are particularly dangerous when the sign is in aninclined or inverted position so that the weight of the sign tends topull away the supports from their respective brackets.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a bracket, havinga neon tube support .which is used in conjunction with said bracket, tohave a series of grooves, on said support, each groove to have adefinite wedge portion adjacent thereto, so that when the support isforced into the bracket each portion between the grooves will haveleading edges, so that it can be eased into the bracket gradually.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bracket for the support,which bracket has a weakened portion to enable the support to tear thematerial as it wedges its way into proper relation with the bracket.

A further object of the invention is to provide means in the footportion of the bracket to permit the foot portion thereof to slide underthe head of a screw. The slot in the foot portion of the bracket, is tobe such that the body of the screw will move through the slot followingan irregular or zig-zag path to prevent the bracket from falling over,as is frequently the case in the old style bracket which has a straightpath for the body portion of the screw to enter the slot in the footportion of the bracket.

A further object of the invention is to provide a support for a-neontube and a bracket for said support which bracket will permit expansionof itself, and remain substantially in said expanded position even afterthe support is withdrawn.

Other and further objects become apparent to those skilled in the art,after a perusal of the present specification.

Fig. 1 is a front view, partly broken away, to show the neon tubesupport inserted in its receiving bracket.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view out along lines 2-2 of Fig. 1 to show moreclearly the weakened portion of the metal.

Fig. 3 is substantially a side view, partly broken away, of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the bracket which receives the neon tubesupport.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the foot of the bracket taken along lines55 of Fig. 6, shown in relation to the foot securing screw.

Fig. 6 is a view of the bracket foot taken on lines 6-6 of Fig. 5 toshow the zig-zag path for movement of the body of the screw.

Fig. 7 is a view of the neon tube support shown independent of thebracket.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, it will be noted that there is abracket 8, and a neon tube support 9 inserted in said bracket. Thebracket has a foot member Ill, which is utilized for the purpose ofattaching said bracket to the wall, back board, or other rigidsupporting means to which the bracket will be secured by a screw, tohold the support which engages the neon sign.

Referring to Fig. 3, we note a side view substantially of the showing inFig. 1. In Fig. 4, a perspective view of the bracket is shown. Thebracket comprises a clip portion I l which is substantially at rightangles to the foot In. The clip portion II of the bracket 8 is formedfrom a fiat blank of metal. It will be seen in Fig. 4 that there are twoupraised sections l2 and [3 with a depressed section I 4 between saidupraised sections. This particular formation provides an opening orreceiving portion for the support 9 which is inserted therein as in themanner shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

Referring to Fig, 1, it is pointed out that the slits I5 and I6 start atpoints I! and I8 and extend respectively to points I9 and 20. Byobserving Fig. 2, the point I! is shown to be substantially at thejunction of the slit parts I2 and I4, and that point I9 is not cut allthe way through to the reverse side of the clip. The material of whichthe clip is made varies slightly in characteristics, but it is alwaysmetal that is used. It i clearly indicated on the drawing that the slitsI5 and I6 come from points I! and I8, to H! and 20 respectively, on oneside, but that said slits I5 and I B on the reverse side extend frompoints I! and I8 to points 2! and 22 respectively. Therefore along theslit I5 there is an inclined cut from point 2| on the reverse side topoint I9 on the front, and also an inclined cut from point 22 on thereverse side of the clip to point 29 on the front.

It will be seen that the inclined edges start from substantially a knifeedge at points 2| and 22 respectively, and that the cut portion of theclip gradually thickens until at points I9 and 20 respectively, it hasreached the full thickness of the metal. The reason for this inclinedportion is to provide a weakened part on the clip so that when the wedgeedge 23 of the support 9 engages the space intermediate the strips I4,and, I2 and I 3, which comprises the clip, the wedge edge of the supportwill be forced down, and by a gradual twisting of the support 9, thesaid support will be forced between the members I4, and, I2 and I3, asshown in Fig. 3, causing them to expand slightly to tear the metal untilthe support comes to rest fitting positively snug within the grip of theclip parts I2, I3 and I4.

Clips of the type to which this invention pertains in the past haveusually been made from resilient material so that the sole gripping ofthe support 9 was usually caused by the resiliency of the metal clipportion.

It will be seen in Fig. 2 that the parts I2, and M, respectively have apartially dotted section shown as 24, and 25 which indicates: theexpanded section of the clip caused by the wedging action of the support9 when said support comes finally to rest. While it is possible thatthere may be some resiliency in the metal of which the clip is made, itis nevertheless pointed out that the firm gripping of the support by thewedging action of the clip is the primary positive holding means, andthe gripping due to the resiliecy of the metal, secondary. However, bothfactors are to be considered depending on the characteristics of themetal of which the bracket is made. In this way, insulators or supportsof somewhat different sizes will be properly gripped and held by thisclip, which permits wider, production tolerances in manufacturing boththe support or insulator, and the clip.

Fig. 2 indicates that the slits, or cuts, such as I5 and I1, haveinclined edges from points 2I to I9, and from 22 to 20 respectively, yetthe novel feature of wedging the support into place in the bracket willpermit, under certain conditions, to utilize at points 2|, and 22, atransverse cut, such as shown at I! or I8, this would, under certainconditions, eliminate the necessity for the inclined cut, such as frompoints 2I to I9. This feature would then permit the wedged edges, orconical leading edges of the support 9, to be sufficient to properlycause the support to be frictionally gripped by the clip.

The curved portion 26 of the support 9 is used to engage the neon tubeas is conventional by a perusal of the old art.

By observing Fig. 6 it will be seen that the screw 21 cannot move fromthe outside to the inside of the elongated opening 28, unless the screwis moved in a zig-zag manner. That is, the screw must be moved in thedirection of arrow X, and then in the direction of the arrow Y, to reachthe elongated loop 28.

Fig. 5 indicates that the screw must be moved in this described zig-zagmanner to reach the elongated space, within the foot I0, since the sizeof the slot is always wide enough for the body of the screw to movetherethrough, but not wide enough for the screw to be moved therethroughin a straight line.

It is one of the objects of this invention to utilize the type ofbracket foot shown and described herein, so that when the bracket istemporarily spaced and held lightly by a few turns of the screw, thebracket will not fall over, since it cannot pass through the zig-zagspace in the foot. The screw will therefore impinge the foot and saidbracket will only tilt and not fall over, thus saving the neon sign fromshock and, possible destruction.

I claim:

A bracket for mounting insulators for gaseous discharge tubes upon asupport, comprising a foot and a clip member integrally formed of metal,the foot member having an aperture therein and a communicating zig-zagpath from the outside of the member to the aperture and the clip memberhaving opposing sections formed by slits cut entirely through the metal,said slits having extended portions not fully cut through the metal sothat forced engagement of an insulator into the clip will tear thepartially cut portions to provide an opening for frictionally andforcibly holding insulators of various sizes in position.

BENJEMIN SIEGEL.

